(Columbus, OH) - Midwest Retail Giant Meijer, Inc. has ended its promotion with the nation’s largest anti-hunting organization.

The leadership at Meijer, a Michigan-based regional chain of retail superstores, has responded to the concerns of the sportsman community and ended its partnership with the anti-hunting group, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), in an online pet photo contest.

Opportunities expand for deer hunters and fall turkey hunters

COLUMBUS, OH - September 1 will again kick off the state's fall hunting seasons - with the opening of the squirrel-hunting season that runs through January 31 - under regulations approved Wednesday by the Ohio Wildlife Council.

Fall turkey hunters will enjoy expanded opportunities. They will be able to hunt the entire season, from October 11 through November 30, with a shotgun, muzzleloading shotgun, bow or crossbow. This new rule adds 35 days to the previous season for fall turkey gun hunting. Nine additional northeast Ohio counties will also be open for fall turkey hunting, bringing the total to 46 counties statewide.

Deer hunters can again buy additional antlerless deer permits at reduced prices for hunting in an urban zone, participating in a controlled hunt, or hunting during the September 27 to November 30 portion of the archery season. Deer hunters with antlerless permits can hunt in Zone C until December 7. Cost of the antlerless deer permit remains at $15.

By Larry S. Moore

According to a Minneapolis Star-Tribune story, Dr. William Cornatzer, a Bismarck physician and hunter, alerted health officials after he conducted tests on venison using a CT scanner and found lead in 60 percent of 100 samples. The North Dakota Health Department confirmed the results on at least five samples of venison destined for food pantries and told food pantries in the state to throw out donated venison. Officials in Minnesota and Iowa followed with similar alerts, asking that venison in those states not be distributed.

This story is concerning, but the tone and purpose is a total outrage. Yes, as a hunter and someone who has donated venison to local food banks, I am outraged. There are so many ways this lead could have ended up throughout the meat. However, taking it to a national level is simply the anti-hunters (or anti-gunners since their behavior pattern is the same) using another unfortunate situation to attack hunting. This is another attempt at hysteria by animal rights groups who have not been able to ban lead or hunting in any other attempts and so are attacking this area.

By Jack Kiser

It's an increasingly rare event in our culture for a hunter or fisherman to experience or even see cultural images or reminders at all beneficial or in any way even inferring even a hint of positivity towards the American outdoors tradition.

The precipitous decline in sales nationwide of hunting and fishing licenses continues to fuel and propel the politically correct cultural armies of the popular media and public school systems that continue to regularly batter and tarnish the images of our outdoors hunting and fishing traditions.

Those who still cling to viewing such acknowledgments as ridiculous, a fabrication of a fading culture or the whining of the last of the gun owners, can quickly have their faux bewilderment skewered with one question:

When is the last time you remember an outdoorsman -- let's say a hunter portrayed in any TV sitcom, drama or documentary -- as anything other than a foaming-at-the-mouth idiot or a dangerous, lurking menace to anyone or anything around him?

Buckeye Firearms Association is pleased to announce passage of Senate Bill 209, which will, among other things, create mobility-impaired access lanes on various public hunting lands of the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

In late February, after accepting testimony from Buckeye Firearms Association's Bob Harsanje and Larry S. Moore, the House Finance & Appropriations Committee voted to amend HB473 into Senate Bill 209, an omnibus fiscal bill that already includes some other natural resources provisions. The amendment, proposed by State Rep. Peter Ujvagi (D), was supported by SB209's primary sponsor, Sen. John Carey (R) and by Dave Graham, Chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.

The bill also will allow mobility impaired, licensed individuals to hunt from such lanes with a special permit via electric-powered all-purpose vehicles or in a stationary road vehicle.

"Mobility impaired hunters deserve the same rights to enjoy their pastime as any other Ohioans," Ujvagi notes. "This plan will help clear some of the obstacles in their way."

Passage of this bill, which received unanimous support in both chambers of the Ohio legislature, was a long-time in coming.

By Larry S. Moore

The upland game rabbit season has been pretty tough on me this year. My oldest female Beagle, Lucky, is 14 and has not been able to hunt. She is just too slow in her old age. My male, Hank, has encountered some heart issues so I am not running him very much. He is 10 and I was really hoping for a couple more years in the field with him. Both dogs jump at the gates and bark to go with me. My wife says it is just pitiful to watch and listen to them whine as I leave. So I have taken just them on a couple of extra trips close to home. It wasn't about bagging any rabbits but about them getting out. I am not sure if it helped them or just made them feel worse when I left them home the next week. It did my soul good to see them hunting again. However, I missed them even more the next week.

What do the beagles have to do with disabled hunter access? It is about as close as I can come to imagining what it must be like for the impaired hunter wanting to get into the field. Access is limited unless there is private land to hunt. Special hunts offered by National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) Wheelin' Sportsmen or Safari Club International fill quickly, may be on dates that are not convenient or may require long drives to south-eastern Ohio. So the impaired hunter is left at home unable to enjoy the bounty and beauty of the Ohio outdoors.

Last week, Buckeye Firearms Association volunteer Bob Harsanje and Dave Graham, Chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ (ODNR) Division of Wildlife, offered proponent testimony before the Ohio House Finance & Appropriations Committee on House Bill 473.

Proposed by State Rep. Peter Ujvagi (D - Toledo), at the urging of and guidance from Harsanje and fellow hunter, HB473 would, among other things, create mobility impaired access lanes on various public hunting lands of the Ohio Division of Wildlife. The bill also would allow mobility impaired, licensed individuals to hunt from such lanes with a special permit via electric-powered all-purpose vehicles or in a stationary road vehicle.

"Mobility impaired hunters deserve the same rights to enjoy their pastime as any other Ohioans," Ujvagi notes. "This plan will help clear some of the obstacles in their way."

By Dave Golowenski
Columbus Dispatch

...Calling Ohio's 1.5 million hunters and anglers "among the most prominent and influential of all demographic groups," the report says these outdoor enthusiasts spend more than $1.9 billion a year on hunting and fishing. That dollar outlay puts Ohio ninth among the 50 states.

The report was issued by the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., that seeks to inform lawmakers and other governmental decision-makers about the impacts of hunting and fishing.

"Hunting and fishing represent much more than an outdoor tradition," foundation spokeswoman Melinda Gable said. "These activities generate real economic value to the states and to communities."

While Ohio stands eighth in population, the state ranks fourth in the number of hunting and fishing participants age 16 and older, with 1.14 million anglers and 467,000 hunters.

A total of 33,000 Ohio jobs -- 19,000 related to fishing and about 14,000 to hunting -- are linked to sportsmen's pursuits, the report says. The workers earn about $934 million annually. The report's job and payroll numbers are derived from surveys conducted and data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Dave Graham, chief of the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said although he is happy to see reports beginning to draw public attention to the economic value of hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing, such findings have long been known among wildlife agencies.

..."The average angler and the average hunter will spend well over $1,000 a year just on equipment," Graham said.

Click here to read the entire story from the Columbus Dispatch.

Injured soldiers find outdoors beneficial to rehabilitation

By Kristi Hsu
ReporterNews.com

Josh Pappas, 21, looks like any other hunter in Shackelford County around this time of year. He wears a three-dimensional camouflage suit covered in waving leaf-like strips of fabric as he walks into an open field Saturday with rifle in hand to stalk deer.

Pappas, a Marine corporal, suffered second- and third-degree burns to his face and arms in Iraq when a bomb went off near him last December.

While his body has recovered, he is still seeing doctors for post-traumatic stress disorder.

This hunt is in disguise as well. It is not ordinary excursion. Instead, it is a weekend event arranged by a Moran family and the Armed Forces Foundation that is meant to calm troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Click here to read the entire story from the Abilene (TX) Reporter News.

By Larry S. Moore

The Sandusky Register reported last week that two deer hunters were brutally attacked during the 2007 deer gun season in a Berlin Township field when a drifter stabbed them repeatedly with a knife.

First, all of us at Buckeye Firearms Association extend our heartfelt sympathies to the families of these hunters and wish for a speedy recovery. Certainly these hunters headed afield to enjoy the best of the deer hunting season and the Ohio outdoors. Unfortunately, things turned very ugly during the course of their day.

The potential for incidences like this, plus last year's Ohio State Highway Patrol alert asking hunters to be on the look out for an escaped fugitive, was much of the motivation behind Buckeye Firearms Assoc. and many volunteers asking the Ohio Division of Wildlife to honor our concealed handgun licenses (CHLs) by permitting concealed carry for hunters. The Division did change the hunting regulations to allow concealed carry while hunting this hunting season, provided the concealed firearm is not used to take game but is for self-defense purposes.

Click 'Read More' for the entire commentary.